Chris Shores wrote at least two books on the subject. Look there.
Shores also documents a lot of the combat in Malta in his Mediterranean Air War Vols 1, 2 and 3
Great thread idea and great thread already! Malta is one of the most interesting and lesser known Theaters.
Of the aircraft already mentioned, I think the most important were the Spitfire, Hurricane, Gladiator and Beaufighter on the Allied side, and the Bf 109, Ju-87, Sm. 79, MC 202 and MC 200 on the Axis side.
And a painting for good measure
I may have missed that it was already mentioned, but the Ju-88 was also very important, the Me 110 was used quite a bit, and the He 111 played a role too I think. There are also some other more rare and exotic aircraft involved which makes the whole thing more fun and interesting to me.
Re 2000 (1/48 scale model)
Re 2001
This one crash landed on returning from Malta
This is a 1/48 scale model somebody made of an Re 2001
Perhaps the most significant of the more exotic planes involved in the struggle for Malta would be the beautiful Reggiane series of fighters from Italy, notably the
Re 2000 and the
Re 2001 and I think some other sub-types. These apparently gave the RAF some problems, for example on 12 May, 1942 when 18 Re 2001 from 2* Gruppo plus some MC 200s, claiming two Spitfire Mk Vs (which RAF records confirm were actually lost).
On the Allied side, one of the more interesting planes used was the
Martin 167 "Maryland" aka "Glen Martin" bomber or "Martin Bomber", an American-made bomber used mostly by export customers. Slim and fast (top speed 304 mph in ideal conditions, cruise speed 248 mph), it was used for recon and ASW as well as bombing raids.
The Martin 167 had forward firing guns and was fast.. and by far the most amazing thing about it was that there was an air-to-air ace flying the type, a very eccentric, colorful and somehow quintessentially British fellow named
Adrian Warburton. He flew Martin 167s on daring recon missions and among other hair raising exploits got into several air to air combats with them, so many in fact that he became the only known Ace in the type, scoring five air-to air victories before he disappeared in 1944.
Finally, I would say if you are looking at Malta you might want to include the convoys as some of the convoy fights were really dramatic and they brought in yet more interesting types of aircraft, plus submarines and torpedo boats.
One of the big ones was Operation Pedestal, a crucial and brutally fought convoy battle which both sides claimed as a victory. Nearly the entire convoy was destroyed but the crucial fuel (especially) and other supplies made it to port, with the last surviving oil tanker literally sinking in the harbor after it was unloaded.
The British lost 1 aircraft carrier, 2 light cruisers, a destroyer and 9 merchant ships, plus 34 planes shot down. The Axis lost 2 submarines and 60 aircraft (mostly Italian). Convoys give you a lot more interesting Allied planes in particular, including Sea Hurricanes, Martlets, and Fulmar fighters plus Fairey Albacore bombers on Royal Navy Carriers, plus Short Sunderland Flying Boats, P-40 Kittyhawks and P-39s from land. The Germans employed some of their more exotic planes like Do 24. Flying Boats and possibly also He 115 and Ar 196 float planes.
Sea Hurricanes on the HMS Victorious
Grumman Martlets (Wildcat to the Americans) tangled with Bf 109s and MC 202s over the Med
Fairey Fulmar fighters were widely used in the convoy defenses
British aircraft carrier Indomitable listing
oil tanker SS Ohio limping into port, half sunk, towed by tugboats and RN destroyers
Read more about the Malta convoys here:
Malta convoys - Wikipedia
